One of the oldest sports clubs in Carlow have become one of the most modern in the country with the development of the new Mondo indoor running track.

The surface is identical to that recently installed in Athlone and believe it or not the same as was used at the London Olympics.

A fine crowd gathered on Friday night in St. Laurence O'Toole's for the cutting of the ribbon and the opening of the new indoor surface.

Among the spectators and onlookers were some special guests including Carlow T.D Pat Deering, Cathal O Cathain of the IAAC, chairman of the club Billy Delaney and President Fintan Phelan.

However there was no bigger guest on the night than the second fastest man in the world, Tyson Gay of the USA.

The Kentucky man who lives and trains in Florida was in fine form as he posed for pictures and signed autographs for the masses who sought them.

He was also envious of the new facility at the Carlow club

"Awh you know what man, I wish I had something like this back in Florida to train on when it's raining, this is cool you know, I think it's going to be a big help to Marcus (Lawlor) and the rest of the young guys here, it's state of the art and I'm very jealous," said the American sprinter.

He continued when asked about his first time in Ireland.

"You know what, we're just visiting and wanted to do some work with 'Star' (Anthony Geoghan) and I guess the rain isn't great, but it's great to be here and we'll definitely come back," said Gaye.

PL Curran was the master of ceremonies on the night and apart from stealing half of chairman Billy Delaney's speech, he did a fine job in recognising everyone who had contributed the support and building of the club.

The highlight of the night was a 60m sprint race between four Carlow athlete's which was started by Tyson Gay.

Marcus Lawlor, Adam Murphy, Eoin Scully and Keith Noctor took off like rockets from the starting blocks before crashing into the soft padding at the end of the track.